[gsimpson]

Hello all, I've lurked long enough, and thought I would introduce myself.

My name's Greg, and I live outside of London, Ontario, Canada.

I commute about 140 km (~87 miles) each day for work, so even a small improvement in FE can have a direct impact on my personal finances. I have played a little with some driving techniques, especially neutral coasting and sticking to the posted speed limit, and have discovered that the nut behind the wheel is definitely the best place to start. My '02 Ford Focus SE is a decently efficient car already, but I have definitely found many improvements are there to be had. The standard gearbox certainly helps.

Inspired by the wonderful things that happen here on ecomodder, yesterday I got out some cardboard and packing tape, and closed up the grill. This morning I cut a little hole in the new block, as the rad fan was running quite a bit, I was apparently suffocating her. I have some pics, please see below. The cardboard is really just a test, I imagine it will get pretty ugly the first time I encounter rain.

One question: Does becoming more aerodynamic also mean you don't attract deer as much? The green bumper and fender are thanks to 2 deer strikes about 2 weeks apart earlier this year. Maybe when focunstein is invisible to the air, she'll be less inviting to the deer too!

Thanks so much to everyone who shares so freely all their mods, techniques, and other assistance. The welcome and community feel here is refreshing to see, and people's willingness to give of themselves helps restore one's faith in humankind.

-Greg.